Helen’s Fashion, Beauty & Lifestyle Blog: April 2012

Sunday, 29 April 2012

The Body Shop Born Lippy Lip Balm In Caramel £3.00

I bought this lip balm in The Body Shop store recently and was included in a buy one get one half price offer. Out of the two items I bought, the lip balm was cheaper therefore I got this half price.

I’m fairly pleased with my purchase. I bought it after seeing if on The Body Shop website and wanted to try the caramel edition.

I was in the store and it seemed in the lip balm tub, caramel had sold out quite fast, luckily the assistant had a dig and she found me one of the caramel ones at the bottom!

I adore the packaging; it’s modern and nice to pop in your bag. I bought this item half price on offer so it was a good bargain. Despite this I think at full price it’s still a good buy.

I do think the scent is pretty nice but I thought it was going to be more of an intense caramel smell. It’s actually fairly light and still smells like every day make-up normally does.

I couldn’t smell it in the shop because the lip balms were all packaged up. So I took a chance. But now that I’ve bought it I think I should have got the plum instead.

On the plus side the lip balm has a lovely tint, depending on the flavour. It’s a brown, caramel sort of tint which looks lovely and fairly natural on the lips.

The actual quality of the lip balm is very good. The consistency isn’t greasy and stays on the lips nicely. I might by the plum one next time I’m in town!

Extracts Brazil Nut Body Wash 200ml £4.25

This is an old favourite of mine. I’m completely in love with this product!! The first time I tried this, it was in a gift set I got a couple of years back at Christmas. I’ve been hooked ever since! I’ve repurchased this item many times now!

There are many things I like about this item the main one being the divine smell. Its smells of caramel and brazil nuts which lingers even after you’ve had a bath or shower.

The shower gel works wonderfully. It lathers up quite a lot and the strong smell makes you feel quite refreshed. I sometimes use it with extracts body butter and body scrub. Unfortunately I’ve ran out of the extras but it’s nice to have matching products so you smell all lovely!

The 200ml lasts quite a long time and I think at £4.25 it’s reasonably priced. Also sometimes boots do various offers, for example 3 for 2. What is also wonderful about this product is its fair trade, which I think is a huge plus.

The packaging is nice, it’s not that sophisticated but it’s easy to read, and simple. The cap is firm and sturdy making the bottle is easy to grab in the shower.

If you are looking to try a new brand of bath/shower products I would recommend Extracts. But if you don’t really like brazil nut I would suggest buying mango or cocoa, they are lovely too.

Metro Centre Haul – End of April Shopping Spree

This week I’ve been on a shopping trip to the metro centre with my friend. I bought lots of goodies to show you and will be reviewing products very soon!

List of things I bought:
Photo Fabulous Moisturising Shampoo by James Brown 250ml - £6.99
Boots No7 Blissful Body Wash 200ml - £9.00
Brazil Nut Extracts body Wash 200ml - £4.25
Soap & Glory Heel Genius Foot Cream 125ml - £5.50
TOPSHOP Nail Polish ‘Barefoot’- £5.00
TOPSHOP Nail Polish ‘Moving House’ - £5.00
The Body Shop Love Etc Body Butter 50ml - £5.00
The Body Shop Born Lippy Lip Balm - £3.00
H&M Gold Hair Cuff - £2.99
H&M Silver Hair Cuff - £1.99
Emeli Sande – Our Version of Events - £10 (HMV)
Company + Company High-Street Edit - £4.50 (WHsmiths)

Percy & Reed Moisturising Conditioner for Hair

In April edition of Glamour magazine, a free hair gift was included. There were a variety of alternative samples included such as conditioner, shampoo, hair mask and finishing polish. One item was available in each magazine.

Unfortunately I got my glamour magazine copy last minute and only the conditioner was left. I would have preferred the shampoo.

Despite this after using this conditioner I was delighted with the results. I use conditioner on and off because my hair isn’t that thick, therefore using conditioner in every wash makes my hair look a bit limp.

I’m not often impressed when it comes to conditioners for this reason. Many brands make my hair look lifeless and thin. The Percy & Reed conditioner works much better. I still only use it every too washes and apply a small amount but the results are really amazing.

My hair feels much silkier, softer, and lighter and smells divine. I feel really pampered every time I use this product. I believe this product is quite a rare find and works very well for my hair.

I adore the clean, crisp and stylish packaging too. If there was one negative about this item, it would be the initial scent in the bottle is quite strong. Don’t be put off though; the smell of your hair afterwards is much less concentrated.

H&M Body Scrub £1.99

This was a spur of the moment purchase while at the till in H&M. At £1.99 I thought it was really good value. The packaging is great in my opinion, particularly for the price.

It was described as a soft vanilla scent, which sounded really nice. There was a seal in the cap I was unable to have a sniff but I’m in love with anything vanilla so had to give it a try!

I was very impressed after using the product in the shower. The grains in the scrub were not too harsh, instead quite gentle. The consistency was similar to a shower gel, just with grains to make skin softer.

After use my skin was smooth and silky. Overall I’m very impressed with this product. I went back in H&M the other day to have a look at other bath products; I might buy some other items!

The Body Shop Make-Up Value Pack £20

I bought a make-up set from The Body Shop a while ago but waited a little while to get a feel of the products before reviewing.

As soon as we walked in, me and my friend saw the gift bags and bought them. I liked how all the products could be used together and they came in an attractive bag which could make a cool gift also. I bought this gift bag in store in Newcastle; the assistants were lovely and very helpful.

The Body Shop is having quite a lot of offers at the moment, particularly online. I thought they might be having financial problems or something but I’m not sure for certain.

Included in the pack was super volume mascara, an eye liner with a smudging tool at the end. Also included were a four part shimmer eye shadow set and a small eye shadow brush.

I tried the products all together and the effect was gorgeous. The eye shadows gave off a beautiful shimmer and could be applied with the brush while wet. I imagine the eye shadows will last me a while, as the cubes are very deep. I don’t normally use a brush but the one that came in the pack was very handy to use with the eye shadow and just the right size.

The eye-liner blended in well particularly when using the smudger. The navy colour stood out and went well with the other navy tones in the gift pack. I prefer eyeliners which you don’t have to sharpen though, like this eyeliner, you have to use a pencil sharper and I can never get the right point and the product always breaks.

The mascara packaging was really pretty; there are little sparkly bits on. The brush looks quite promising but when you take it out but I find the product to be quite messy. I found after applying, when blinking, little specks of mascara came up around the eye area. I do not know if it’s just me but I have not found this problem with other mascaras.

If you are a fan of The Body Shop you may like to pick up a similar value pack. I’m glad I bought this pack instead of buying individual items at full price. I don’t think I will be re-purchasing any items on their own, other than the eye shadow, none really stood out to me.